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Highlighting Feeding Programs in Mississippi

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Hundreds of thousands of meals were provided throughout Mississippi by The Salvation Army in 2019. Those meals include home-cooked meals, home-delivered meals, meals provided at the shelter, mobile canteen meals, holiday meals, and more. The Army’s Mississippi feeding program highlights of the year are the Jackson and Tupelo locations, which collectively distributed 159,326 meals last year. These locations offer several assistance programs including grocery assistance and daily meals for their communities. They also host annual events to raise awareness and funds for their local feeding programs, such as Jackson’s SOUPer Bowl and Tupelo’s Empty Bowls.

Jackson

Corps Officers: Majors Robert & Karen Lyle

The Jackson Corps helps to cure hunger by providing nutritious meals to anyone in need. In addition to addressing the immediate symptoms of food insecurity, the programs are designed to help identify and treat its root cause. This holistic approach to the needs of each person helps move many from “hungry” to “fully healed.”

Jackson provides breakfast and dinner 365 days a year at its Center of Hope as well as lunch on the weekends. The Center of Hope is an adult-only shelter that provides breakfast, dinner, counseling, and access to showers, laundry, and other amenities. Residents are also provided with assistance and tools to find employment.

Meals are also provided twice a week through the senior’s programs and once a week through a youth character development class. Food boxes are also offered to every Angel Tree family each Christmas.

A total of 43,490 meals were served and 2,827 grocery orders were distributed by the Jackson corps in 2019. The location also hosted its 23rd annual SOUPer Bowl fundraiser, the main event focused on raising funds for feeding programs, Sunday, February 2, 2020, at the Sparkman Auditorium at the Mississippi Agricultural Museum.

The event takes place every year on Superbowl Sunday and features soups and desserts donated by over 20 local restaurants and served by volunteer local celebrity servers. Past servers have included many Jackson area television and radio personalities and Miss and Mrs. Mississippi. Each year, attendees can taste as many soups and desserts as they would like and enjoy live music, a silent auction, and games.

Tupelo, MS

Corps Officers: Majors Ray & Whitney Morton

“We are painfully aware that Mississippi is the most food-insecure state,” Major Whitney Morton, Tupelo Corps Officer.

Due to this awareness, Major Morton makes sure the Tupelo location is doing its best to keep the community fed and healthy.

The new Tupelo building, which opened in late 2019, features space for families, who before had to live in separate quarters, and a newly expanded Soup Kitchen.

Tupelo has a daily feeding program that serves 75-100 people at lunch and approximately 50 people for dinner. So that all meals are covered in the Tupelo area, a local church serves a hot breakfast each weekday. These meals are available to anyone in the community, free of charge.

The shelter did not have access to a kitchen during summer 2019, and the canteen had broken down and needed significant repairs. To ensure that no one went hungry in their neighborhood, nearby churches, civic groups, food trucks, and partner agencies took turns serving meals prepared off-site and brought to The Salvation Army’s parking lot.

“It was incredible to see the community in action and the church being the church in the fullest sense,” said Major Whitney Morton, Tupelo Corps Officer.

Tupelo served 115,836 meals, provided 664 grocery orders, and delivered 4,343 meals to individual’s homes. These meals are only possible through community donations of funds, food, and friendship. Many of the volunteers who prepare and serve food have been doing so for years. Each weekend for the last eight years, Stone Soup Ministry partners have made and served Saturday lunches in Tupelo. They line up volunteers, pay for the food, and prepare it in time for lunch.

Tupelo served roughly 3,000 meals with the help of 323 volunteers on Thanksgiving Day. Community members began preparation for the holiday weeks in advance, readying green bean casseroles, fluffy sweet potatoes, and dressing. Charter Tupelo Salvation Army Advisory Board member, JenniLynn Johnson, has organized the Thanksgiving Community meal for fifty years.

The Tupelo Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary hosts the community’s most significant annual spring celebration, Empty Bowls, a fundraising event to raise money for feedings at the shelter, similar to Jackson’s SOUPer Bowl. Last year’s event raised over $45,000. This year’s event is Wednesday, March 4.

Conquering Hunger in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi

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We celebrate food a lot in February. National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, National Tater Tots Day, National Carrot Day, National Homemade Soup Day, National Bagel Day, National Nutella Day. There’s a different celebration for our favorite foods each day of the month, so The Salvation Army of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi (ALM Division) has decided to celebrate food as well by highlighting the fantastic feeding programs offered throughout our division. Throughout February, we will share stories from Salvation Army locations throughout our division to share how they are doing the most good when it comes to feeding and supporting their communities.

As defined in the 2017 USDA study, “food insecurity” is “a disruption to food intake or eating patterns due to lack of money or other resources.” Through food pantries, community gardens, and feeding programs, The Salvation Army addresses the national food insecurity crisis by providing 56 million nutritious meals annually to anyone in need. Over 1 million of those meals are provided annually by The Salvation Army right here in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Shelters throughout The Salvation Army ALM Division do their part by offering nutritious meals every day, 365 days a year, to anyone in need. Food gardens, food pantries, holiday dinners, and emergency food services are all offered throughout the division as well. Stay with us over the next few weeks as we highlight some of our busiest locations who are keeping their communities full.

Facts About Hunger

  • 99% reported having worried that their food would run out before they got money to buy more.
  • 97% reported that the food they bought just did not last, and they did not have money to get more.
  • 95% reported that they could not afford to eat balanced meals.
  • 96% reported that an adult had cut the size of meals or skipped meals because there was not enough money for food, and 88% reported that this had occurred in three or more months.
  • 93% of respondents reported that they had eaten less than they felt they should because there was not enough money for food.
  • 68% of respondents reported that they had been hungry but did not eat because they could not afford enough food.
  • 48% of respondents reported having lost weight because they did not have enough money for food.
  • 30% reported that an adult did not eat for an entire day because there was not enough money for food, and 24% reported that this had occurred in three or more months.

Families Face the Greatest Threat

  • 19% of all American households with children are food insecure.
  • 35% of households headed by single women are food insecure.
  • 26% of black non-Hispanic households are food insecure.
  • 22% of Hispanic households are food insecure.

Hunger Is Curable

The Salvation Army is dedicated to eliminating food insecurity. We work to cure hunger by providing nutritious meals to anyone in need via food pantries and meal assistance. This includes help for homeless people of all ages as well as individuals and families in need of extra assistance. In addition to addressing the immediate symptoms of food insecurity, our programs are designed to help identify and treat its root cause. Over time, this holistic approach to the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of each person helps move many from “hungry” to “fully healed.”